MisterB

I never did. After about 30 years, I gave up performing. Although I loved playing, performance anxiety, and the resulting poor performance just ruined it for me. I'm not sure if this is the same for everyone, but for me, "stage fright" isn't exactly the right phrase. I'm not afraid of being in front of a large audience... it's literally performance anxiety... the anxiety of thinking I'm not going to be able to hit the notes, and I've proven it to be a real thing on very many occasions. The anxiety itself is almost completely responsible for it.

I work entirely in the box, and my strategy when I'm not inspired to write music, is to do something technical or educational. I mean do something like learn some features of my DAW that I've never used, or deep learn a VST instrument that I've previously abandoned. Something like that. I often find that doing something that is technical sparks something creative because I'm not trying. The brain is the barrier, and distracting it with technical stuff tends to fix the creative side, even if just temporarily.

I listen to less music than I used to, as my ability to multi-task continue to diminish. I used to listen to music all the time while I did my job, and that's easier than ever now that I work from home, but I find that when I listen to music, I can no longer concentrate on what I'm supposed to be doing, so I don't do it any more.

I always end up with 44.1/16 or worse (MP3), but what I work in depends on context. Some plugin effects and some VSTi's work better at higher sample rates, and I always work in 24 bit floating inside of Cubase. I could change over to 32 bit floating now that its available, but I can't really see the point based on my content, which is always sample or algorithm based material from VSTi's. There's no need for anything to be pushed to the limit during the writing and production phase, and I don't have huge templates with masses of instruments, so 32 bit floating is kind of redundant to me. Since I'm 100% in the box, if someone asked me for a file at a really high sample rate, I could just convert my project. Whether or not it would make a difference would likely depend on the VSTi's I'm using, but I sure as hell can't hear a difference on final output. I've used all kinds of audio sources on videos in the past with all manner of conversions to meet an output spec. No one cares. No one ever comments on the "low sample rate" of a source.

I don't consider myself to be a performing musician these days so I'm coming more from a theory side. I usually start out with Toontrack's EZ Keys 2 to get my chord progression flowing and to start a stylistic path. I usually start out with my own basic chord progression rather than taking one of the built in progressions. I feel it's more my song rather than Toontracks this way. The ones that come with EZ keys are great, and i think if i start with one of theirs, i'm likely to end up using it exactly as presented and that kind of diminishes the feeling of writing my own song. Then I'll add Synthesizer V to start noodling around a lyric and melodyline to get the basic tune for the various sections. I'll add other instruments as I feel the need and build my song in a pretty random and haphazard fashion. I sometimes work on lyrics inside Google Docs so I have them no matter which machine I'm on. I have in the past used Chorus for lyric writing too. It's pretty good really, but I'm not a fan of the subscription model so I don't keep my account paid up every month. I add effects as I write as I find that a kind of produced sound is inspiring.

Your DAW of choice Cubase (currently v.13 Pro) Why you prefer it (specific features, workflow advantages, etc.) I've been using Cubase since the mid-90's (back then on an Atari ST). I've always been MIDI based in my personal work, and Cubase worked for me at the start. I used a few other DAW's in my job as Music Technologist (ProTools, Logic, Ableton, Digital Performer), mostly for audio work, but with some MIDI stuff too. I also tried a few different DAW's after I returned from a multi-year break from making music (Studio One, Reaper). Nothing has felt intuitive like Cubase. It's really small stuff like how you interact with the piano roll editor, and bigger things like the Logical Editor which I have grown up with and use a lot for dynamic and rhythmic nuances in particular. Even though I still feel like I've only really touched the surface with it, I don't feel the comfort level with any other DAW I've used/tried. Your favorite plugins or instruments within that DAW I think Synthesizer-V is the most significant plugin development this century. For people like me who can't sing, a vocal synthesizer that actually sounds human is a great production tool, and an even better song writing tool. Synthesizer-V is not Cubase exclusive. It's a standard VST instrument, made by Dreamtonics. Any tips or tricks you've discovered that might help others using the same platform Preferred DAW is a very personal thing. I think all of them are amazing, and the journey can end when you find one you click with... that feels intuitive to you. There wasn't a ton of choice when I started out, so it was an easier decision to make than it is now, but take your time to evaluate, and I would recommend that you stop looking when you've found one that works for the way that you do. Even if there appear to be features missing, there are almost always work arounds. As I said above, in Cubase I use the Logical Editor a lot. I have set up presets to select rhythmic selections... that's all the presets do, and it gives me a lot of flexibility to use them to create rhythmic interest in a number of different ways. I also use the Logical Editor to add randomness to velocities and other data to make lines seem more human. The Logical Editor can look intimidating on first look, but give it the time of day, and it will save you plenty! Also, the Quantize Editor is a lot more comprehensive than it first appears, giving you the ability to affect not only note position, but also note length and velocity to add real groove to MIDI parts.

In terms of rhythm, I think the word I was missing is cadence. Still not sure about the melodic side of it, but I think that's more... um, something. 🤔

One of my faves is Sammy Rae and the Friends... not sure what genre you would put them into. Here's a recent song of theirs. Personally, I prefer some of their stuff from a few years ago (they put out an EP called The Good Life - you can find it on all the regular platforms), but I think they are still putting out great, very original songs and Sammy Rae is a great singer.

This is a really old thread from a one time poster. But hey, just because they're not around, doesn't mean discussion can't continue. I worked as a technologist in a university music school for 17 years. I've known people leave with their degrees going on to all kinds of things. Music, if not for the obvious performance, composition and teaching occupations, is considered one of the most valuable stepping stones to much more lucrative careers like lawyers, accountants and many medical fields. These days I work for the same university but as the campus photographer (yeah, I took a pretty radical change in career at almost 50 years old), and I often do photoshoots at the hospital that is attached to the university. I frequently bump into people I knew in the School of Music, who are now surgeons, genetics researchers and anesthesiologists. Music has taken a back seat for them, though they all seem to still pursue it in some way, but it was their stepping stone to getting to where they are now.

It's not for me, no. I don't really like the playing style, but I think they're marketed in a very specific way... I'm not sure how they fair for what they were designed to do. I hear some weird transitions in some of their demos, but its hard to know whether that's programming, or playing. I'd never heard of them until I saw your post.

Thanks John - I'll be reading through that site (for other reasons!), but I'm looking for some specific theory around writing - in particular - pop vocal melodies that are memorable because they are, I guess to some extent naturally placed rhythmically, and melodically. Here's an example of what I mean... compare the two samples here. They use the same backing and more or less the same pitches, but different rhythm. The second is much more memorable has a smooth natural flow, and would be much easier to sing accurately. Its the term for the kind of writing represented in the second sample that I'm trying to think of (and to be clear - this is one video, with two samples on it - having trouble with uploads on SongStuff again, so can't add them directly to my post).

Yeah, I'm not one of those.

In composition and arranging, there's a term "idiomatic" which is used to vaguely describe writing for the strength of the instruments you're writing for. It has multiple components like writing in a comfortable range, with scaler intervals, and sometimes writing in such a way that makes for easy movement of whatever generates the musical notes (eg, fingerings on strings, valve combinations on brass instruments etc...). What I'm trying to figure out, is a similar term that is used for voice when song-writing, that gives rise to a memorable melody - in particular, placement of syllables on obvious places rhythmically to give natural emphasis, and also using regular scaler intervals that are easy to sing. As far as I'm concerned, idiomatic does it, but when I try to research it, I can't find anything on it. So, I'm just wondering if you know what the hell I'm talking about, and is it known as something other than idiomatic?

$374 is almost free.

There are a couple of challenges on the go for February, and one of them is the RPM Challenge. It's been on the go, I believe since around 2006, and is a worldwide movement. You don't give them your music, you don't have ot pay anything and there is no prize. There is a listening party at the end of it, where you can submit one of your new tracks to, but you don't have to. Its a fun challenge to do for the month of February - basically, produce something during the month of February. It can be a single, EP, album or box set (who has the time for that one?), and must be previously unreleased material, but doesn't have to be stuff that you only worked on in the month of February. Everything is in their FAQ - https://www.rpmchallenge.com/faq and you can sign up at https://www.rpmchallenge.com/. There's no pressure, nothing bad will happen if you sign up and don't complete it. It's all intended to be a fun way to motivate yourself to finish a product.